URAL Motorcycles 2000 -10 series, Repair Manual, Page: 78 / 193

3.7 Handling Differences Between Single Wheel Drive
& Dual Wheel Drive
The driven sidecar wheel makes the Sportsman less likely to pull right when accelerating
and left when decelerating. Turning left, especially when accelerating from a stop, is
easier, since the driven sidecar wheel helps to pull the sidecar forward. Turning to the
right from a stop is more difficult than the single wheel drive, since the driven sidecar
wheel doesn’t create a drag to the right when accelerating.
The sidecar wheel receives it’s torque via a differential in the final drive. About 30% of
the power is transferred to the sidecar wheel on the ground. However, if the sidecar
wheel leaves the ground, when power is being applied, most of the torque will transfer to
the spinning sidecar wheel, and the motorcycle will lose forward thrust. If the sidecar
wheel is kept in the air, it will spin up and the motorcycle will gradually roll to a stop even
with the motorcycle engine running & in gear.
Warning: If the sidecar wheel is allowed to drop back to the ground while power is being
applied, there is a potential for damage to the equipment as well as a sudden forward
thrust on the motorcycle. Thus, it is
not recommended that the Sportsman sidecar wheel
ever be lifted for more than a few seconds during normal operation. Lifting of the Sidecar
wheel should be limited to low speed training in a parking lot, with extreme care taken to
reduce engine speed as soon as the sidecar wheel is lifted.
WARNING: OPERATORS SHOULD ALSO BE ADVISED NOT TO ATTEMPT
SLIDING TURNS IN EITHER DIRECTION WITH THE SPORTSMAN. AT THE
INSTANT WHEN EITHER DRIVE WHEEL LIFTS OFF THE SURFACE, TRACTION
WILL BE INSTANTLY REGAINED ON THE OUTSIDE WHEEL, WITH THE VERY
REAL POSSIBILITY OF A ROLLOVER. FOR THIS REASON, OPERATORS SHOULD
BE COUNSELED TO LEAN BODY WEIGHT TO THE INSIDE OF ALL TURNS AND
AVOID SLIDING THE TIRES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, REFER TO DRIVING
THE URAL SIDECAR MOTORCYCLE.
Patrol
Since the sidecar wheel can be driven, the Patrol motorcycle handles differently from the
standard Tourist (single wheel drive) motorcycle. It is important that owners and service
personnel be aware of the differences.
Two wheel drive is not to be engaged on dry pavement. The two wheel drive mode
is for loose gravel, snow or, wet surfaces only. It is important to understand that when
engaged, the sidecar wheel and the rear motorcycle wheel are locked together, and will
turn at the same speed. This will make turns impossible on dry pavement and may even
result in breakage of the two wheel drive mechanism.